Soft plastic bait

Soft plastic bait, commonly known as soft lure, soft plastics, plastic bait, worm lure or just worm, is any of a range of elastomer-based fishing lures termed so because of their flexible, flesh-like texture. Soft lures are available in a large range of colours, sizes and particularly shapes, and are typically impaled directly onto a fishing hook like an ordinary bait.

Designed to imitate bait fishes or other aquatic invertebrates (mostly worms) that are ubiquitous natural foods for carnivorous/omnivorous fishes, the realistic texture and versatility combined with simple and economical production, as well as the freedom from handling live baits and having to keep baits fresh in wet containers, has led soft lures to become a standard article of modern fishing tackle, frequently used in conjunction with a jighead or as part of a sophisticated rig design (e.g. the Texas and Carolina rigs). It is also not uncommon to see soft lures impregnated with chemical attractants (e.g. dimethyl-β-propiothetin) to better entice fish olfactorily.